The Song of the Shirt

At the time of Thomas Hood’s writing career, Victorian England was nearing the close of its Industrial Revolution and fully embraced the newly emerged idea of capitalism put forth by economists like Adam Smith (1723-90). Spanning roughly a century, the British Industrial Revolution brought about the development of innovative technology (like steam-powered locomotives), strengthened England’s economy, elevated the working middle class, and facilitated a period of rapid urbanization as citizens flocked to major cities to find work in manufacturing.

Alongside the improvements caused by this tremendous economic shift also came unfortunate side effects, as the changing working conditions and forms of labor engendered new human rights violations. The rapidly increasing urban population meant overcrowding, pollution, a lack of clean water and lodgings, and many of the lower-class workers in the new factories were not paid enough to survive in their new environment. For many, workdays could last as long as 16 hours (see Robert Butterworth’s article in the Further Reading section), and child labor was rampant—particularly in the coalmining and chimney-sweeping professions.

In Hood’s time, the plight of one vocational group was particularly well-documented: seamstresses. Seamstresses were a “highly visible” and “plentiful” occupation in the Victorian era (“A